IB MTS syllabus: what Tier 1 and Tier 2 actually test

How selection for IB MTS moves from stage to stage

The recruitment is run by the Intelligence Bureau for its subsidiary offices across the country, and each applicant picks a single state or UT office. Seats are filled state by state, so you compete with applicants of the same subsidiary office and category.

1. Tier 1: a one hour computer based objective test. Its score is the one that ranks you.
2. Tier 2: a one hour descriptive paper in English. You must cross the qualifying mark, but it adds nothing to your rank.
3. Document verification, medical test and character check: the bureau also runs a background verification before any appointment.

IB MTS exam syllabus: the Tier 1 scheme

• You get sixty minutes in all and may move between subjects freely. On average that is 36 seconds per item.
• Every correct answer earns 1 mark and every wrong one costs a quarter mark. Four wrong picks erase the gain from one right pick.
• Each item has four options, and you sit the test on a computer at an allotted centre.

Topic list for each Tier 1 subject

General awareness (40 questions)

• News from India and abroad: appointments, awards, summits, sports, schemes
• History of India, from ancient times to the national movement
• Physical and political geography: Indian rivers, hill ranges, state capitals, world climate zones
• Indian polity: constitution, parliament, fundamental rights, key offices
• Economy basics: budget, banking terms, major schemes
• Everyday science, environment, computer basics
• Static facts: books and authors, important days, famous places, inventions

Quantitative aptitude (20 questions)

• Numbers and their properties, LCM and HCF, fractions, decimals, square and cube roots
• Simplification, percentage, ratio and proportion, averages, ages
• Profit and loss with discount, both kinds of interest
• Work and wages, filling tanks with pipes, speed problems with trains and boats
• Mixtures, mensuration of basic figures

Reasoning (20 questions)

• Analogies, odd one out, series of letters or numbers
• family relation puzzles, coded words, directions
• Syllogism, seating, order and ranking, conclusions drawn from statements
• Picture based items: mirror and water reflections, hidden shapes, figure series

English language (20 questions)

• Synonyms, antonyms, spellings, idioms and one word substitution
• Error spotting, sentence improvement, fillers
• Sentence rearrangement, cloze test, short comprehension

Tier 2: the descriptive English paper

In Tier 2 you write answers by hand on English usage and understanding of a passage. It runs for 1 hour and carries 50 marks, and you need at least 20 of those 50 to stay in the race. Reports of the last cycle describe a paragraph or short passage of about 150 words plus short items testing word meaning and grammar.

Because Tier 2 only has to be cleared, there is no point chasing a high score here. What sinks candidates is poor handwriting, incomplete answers and basic grammar slips. Practise writing a 150 word paragraph on a familiar topic, such as your village, a festival or the value of cleanliness, inside 15 minutes, then check it for tense and spelling errors.

Where the marks are, and where to spend your hours

With 40 per cent of Tier 1 in one subject, general awareness is the single biggest lever on your rank. Maths, reasoning and English each hold 20 marks, so a candidate who scores 32 in GK and an average 14 in the other three reaches 74, while someone who is strong in maths but weak in GK struggles to match that.

• Give roughly 40 per cent of your study time to GK and current affairs.
• Keep maths to class 8 to 10 arithmetic. Long algebra or geometry chapters are rarely needed at this level.
• In reasoning, series, coding and analogies are quick wins; leave long puzzles for the end of the paper.
• English questions are short, so speed comes from vocabulary revision more than from grammar theory.

A twelve week plan for a class 10 level paper

1. Weeks 1 to 4: read class 6 to 10 NCERT history, geography and civics for static GK. In parallel, work through percentage, ratio, interest and work problems, 15 sums a day.
2. Weeks 5 to 8: keep a notebook of daily news for GK. Add 20 reasoning questions and 20 English vocabulary items every day.
3. Weeks 9 to 11: take one timed 60 minute mock every two days. After each, list the questions you got wrong and how much negative marking cost you.
4. Week 12: revise your notebook of current affairs from the last six months and write two Tier 2 style paragraphs.

The class 10 NCERT books and the official notification are enough source material; you do not need advanced guides.

IB MTS syllabus in Hindi

आईबी एमटीएस के चयन का पहला चरण कंप्यूटर पर होने वाला टियर 1 है। इस पेपर में 100 प्रश्न होते हैं, पूरे 100 अंक के, और इन्हें 60 मिनट में हल करना होता है। सबसे बड़ा हिस्सा सामान्य जागरूकता का है, यानी 40 प्रश्न, जबकि गणित, तर्कशक्ति और अंग्रेजी से 20 20 प्रश्न रहते हैं। किसी प्रश्न का उत्तर गलत चुना तो 0.25 अंक कट जाएंगे। टियर 2 में अंग्रेजी का वर्णनात्मक पेपर होता है, जिसके कुल 50 अंक हैं। इसमें 20 अंक लाने वाले ही आगे बढ़ते हैं। चयन सूची में रैंक केवल टियर 1 के स्कोर से तय होती है। प्रश्न दसवीं के स्तर के होते हैं, इसलिए जीके को रोज समय दें।

Eligibility in brief and the official source

• Education: matriculation (class 10) or equivalent from a recognised board.
• Domicile: you must hold a domicile certificate of the state or union territory whose subsidiary office you apply for.
• Age: between 18 and 25 as counted on the last day to apply; the ceiling moves to 30 for SC or ST candidates, 28 for OBC, and central rules give further relief to other groups.
• Pay: Rs 18,000 to Rs 56,900 (level 1), plus allowances.

The notice and the online application link are published by the Ministry of Home Affairs. If you are a graduate as well, the bureau's officer level exam has a much longer syllabus; see the IB ACIO syllabus. For a similar matric level post under the Delhi government, open the DSSSB MTS syllabus page. For the Staff Selection Commission's own MTS exam, compare the SSC MTS syllabus, and browse more central exams in the SSC and central hub.